A doctor in Florida has been indicted on second degree manslaughter charge after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen during a procedure in 2024.

Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted by a grand jury in Tallahassee on Monday after prosecutors said he botched the surgery of 70-year-old William Bryan, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Who died on the operating table at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach, Florida.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested on Monday morning and later released on bond, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said. “Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favour,” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in a statement.

Shaknovsky is due to be arraigned in Walton County Circuit Court on May 19, and he faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. After the botched surgery, Shaknovsky voluntarily surrendered his medical license in Alabama. Authorities in Florida then suspended his medical license.

Mr. Bryan’s wife, Beverly, said, “[My husband] would want his death to be the reason that more people didn’t get hurt by that doctor.”